When cities repave roads, why do they leave the street ripped up for a couple weeks before repaving?

Question

I was told once it’s because cities project the job to take say 5 weeks, so they rip it up the first week, leave it for 3 weeks, then repave the last week. And they do this so everyone gets a paycheck for the full 5 weeks. Surely there has to be a different reason?

In: Other

Answer 1

Nothing to do with paychecks. Usually the ripping (milling) is done by a separate company than the paving company.

I manage resurfacing for my municipality. We don’t allow the milling crews to get more than 3-4 days ahead of the paving crew. It’s an eye sore to the residents and also opens us up to risk for our subgrade to get destroyed.